Friday, January 7, 2011

Oy...just...oy

Ellie never put anything in her mouth, so I was not prepared for this.

(In fact, we've let Ellie play with 3+ toys since she was less than a year old.)

Mikey isn't even allowed to play with many under-three toys.

So when Ellie either dropped or gave him a penny today, I was clueless...until he puked it back up in the presence of the firemen.  Yes, firemen.

He choked.  He couldn't breath for a few seconds.  He continued to labor for breath for a couple minutes.  By the time the fire truck got here, he was calm and only choked when he breathed deeply or sharply, but I knew it wasn't over.  At this point, I had no idea on what he choked; there was nothing in his vicinity except for some dried-out rogue peas he threw on the floor the other day.  I thought he maybe had aspirated some vomit.  Whether he was choking or drowning, I knew I couldn't risk driving him to the hospital myself.

The firemen arrived and set up shop to assess him.  His numbers checked out, and he looked fine.  He was horribly congested, though, to which one firemen asked, "Does he sound congested to you?"  (Um...yes...duh?).  Then he asked if it was normal for him to be so congested.  (Um...no...I already told you that's why I called 911?)  Stupid questions aside, he was a very nice, competent EMT.  (Well, aside from not having a tongue depressor.  Or a light to check his pupils.  These guys were really ill equipped!  Anyway...)  He got a tongue depressor and attempted to wedge it in Mikey's clamped jaw, an action which upset Mikey so much he proceeded to puke, and...hello, penny!  Mystery solved.

Mikey was immediately better.  No more congestion.  No more labored breathing.  He even started to warm up to the EMTs, smiling and waving.  The fireman who appeared to be in charge called a doctor to see if he'd approve us refusing transport, which he did.  I chose to drive us to the ER, now that I was confident Mikey was well, so that I wouldn't have to deal with both kids at the hospital.  (Mike could meet me sooner if he didn't have to go get my car.)

[While I was answering questions for the report, I heard a couple of the guys talking about something at the side of our house, but I didn't think anything of it.  Apparently, they dumped our bucket of water-soaked, used fireworks, no doubt looking for illegal fireworks.  You'd think they'd say something about the search, even though they had probable cause.  They also nosed through my first floor, probably because I acted like I didn't want them in my messy house.  They were nice, though.  They even offered to change my preschooler's nasty diaper.  I just couldn't let them suffer through that, though.]

As expected, at the hospital, they gave Mikey a chest X-ray and checked his oxygen saturation.  Everything was fine.  The Mikey bank, as the PA called him, was empty.  Mikey was even eating crackers and taking a bottle like nothing ever happened.

So...Did I learn anything?  Hmmm...  I did learn one thing:  Flylady is right when she tells you to always be prepared.  You never know when you'll have six firemen and four paramedics in your dining room!

3 comments:

  1. Yikes! And I thought eating berries off the holly bush was bad!

    Thanks for the follow.

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  2. I truly believe that you only call 9-1-1 when there is a mess to be seen. Every time I've had to call for my husband when he's been in insulin reaction, there were piles of clothes and toys everywhere.

    So glad he was ok!

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  3. Too funny, TJ! The ironic thing is the room in which he choked was actually clean. I'd expect this sort of thing if there was stuff all over the floor, but no. The ONE clean room in the house.

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